Entry conditions
Foreign citizens, except Nordic nationals, need a residence and work permit in order to work in the Faroe Islands.
Entry conditions requirements vary according to country of origin and length of stay.
Citizens of Nordic countries, i.e. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, can live and work in the Faroe Islands without having a residence and work permit.
Nordic citizens do not need a passport to enter the Faroe Islands. However, they must be able to identify themselves upon request. A driving licence is a valid form of identification.
As the Faroe Islands are not a member state of the EU, the EU rules do not apply to the Faroe Islands.
However, when the rate of unemployment in the Faroe Islands is low, you can apply for a residence permit as EU citizen through a special EU Scheme. The unemployment rate in the Faroe Islands has been below this limit for several years.
Some Faroese employers are pre-approved for employment of citizens from the EU countries. EU citizens who have an employment agreement with such a pre-approved employer, can start working as soon as the employment has been notified through application to the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI).
If the employer is not pre-approved, the employer and the employee will have to submit a joint application for a residence and work permit to the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration. The employee is not allowed to start working until a formal permit has been issued.
A residence and work permit for the Faroe Islands is normally granted with a validity of up to 1 year.
e unemployment rate is currently below 3.5 per cent, it is possible to apply for a residence and work permit based on this scheme within all trades.
Citizens from countries with visa requirements must obtain atourist visa for travelling to the Faroe Islands for up to 3 months. A visa to enter Denmark or another Schengen country is not valid for entry into the Faroe Islands as the country is not part of the Schengen Agreement. Citizens from countries with visa requirements will most likely need a Schengen visa as well as a visa to enter the Faroe Islands as travelling to the Faroe Islands normally goes through a Schengen country, such as Denmark.
Short term stay
Researchers and lecturers invited to teach or conduct similar activities in the Faroe Islands can work without a work permit, provided the duration of their stay does not exceed three consecutive months.
Researchers coming to the Faroe Islands to conduct research on a short time basis must apply for a residence and work permit.
Long term stay
Citizens from countries outside the EU who have been offered employement in the Faroe Islands must have a residence and work permit.
Since the Faroe Islands and Denmark are two distinct travel areas, a residence permit in Denmark does not carry with it the right to reside in the Faroe Islands.
Applications for a residence and work permit in the Faroe Islands are processed by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) based on an approval from the Faroese Immigration Office. The application must be filed by the employee and his or her employer together and submitted to a Danish diplomatic mission in the country where the researcher is residing.
Processing time for correctly completed applications for residence and work permit is normally within 3 months.
A residence and work permit for the Faroe Islands is normally granted with a validity of up to 1 year.
Researchers
Researchers must have a written job contract or job offer from a Faroese research institution specifying salary and employment conditions when applying for a permit. It is not a requirement that the applicant is employed full time as a researcher. Salary and employment conditions must correspond to Faroese standards.
If the researcher wants to change employment to another research institution during his or her stay in the Faroe Islands, he or she must apply for a new residence and work permit before starting work with the new employer. A permission for sideline work can be granted if the work is relevant to the main employment.
PhD students must be enrolled at a Danish or Faroese university. PhD students enrolled in a PhD programme abroad doing part of their programme in the Faroe Islands may also be granted a work permit. PhD students must have sufficient funds to support themselves during their residence in the Faroe Islands.
PhD students are allowed to work full-time at the university at which they have been enrolled or at a company affiliated to their PhD programme with work tasks that are part of their PhD programme. They are also allowed to take upp additional employment besides their full-time job as PhD students at a limited scale.
Read more:
PhD studies in the Faroe Islands
Medical doctors
Medical doctors with an authorisation from the Danish Patient Safety Authority who have been offered a job at a Faroese hospital can be granted a permit without prior approval from the Faroese Immigration Office.
Read more:
Medical doctors
Fast Track scheme
Citizens from countries outside the EU employed by pre-approved companies in the Faroe Islands can be granted faster access to residence and work permits in the Faroe Islands according to a Fast Track scheme. .
The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration processes applications for the individual residence and work permits from applicants outside the EU who wish to work in the Faroe Islands at a pre-approved company.
The processing time is up to 1 month from application date.
The Fast Track scheme will be suspended if the unemployment rate in the Faroe Islands exceeds 3.5 per cent for a period of time.
Read more:
Fast Track scheme
Family members
A foreign citizen holding a residence and work permit based on a job on the Faroe Islands is allowed to bring his family to the Faroe Islands. A permit to reside in the Faroe Islands can be granted to spouses, registered or cohabiting partners as well as children under the age of 18 living at home.
Accompanying family members will be granted residence permit for the same period as the foreign national with a work contract in the Faroe Islands.
The foreign national must be able to support his family members and the family must live together in the Faroe Islands.
The spouse or cohabiting partner is allowed to work full time for the entire period of his or her permit.
Read more:
Family members
Permanent residence permit
Foreign nationals who have held a residence and work permit in the Faroe Islands under the same conditions for seven consecutive years and have achieved a substantial attachment to the Faroese society, will normally qualify for a permanent residence permit.
In order to be granted a permanent residence permit the foreign national must still meet the requirements for a residence permit.
A permanent residence permit will not be given if the foreign national has been incarcerated or given any other form of severe criminal sentence during his or her residence in the Faroe Islands or has an overdue public debt in excess of DKK 87,209 (2023).
Read more:
Faroese Immigration Office
New to Denmark - Work on the Faroe Islands